About Me

I’m retired from 30-plus years in the aerospace industry. I’m also retired military, with 4-years active duty in the Air Force, and another 21-years in the Air Force Reserve.

I was born and raised on a wheat farm in the great state of North Dakota, but spent much of my life building airplanes and missiles in the Pacific Northwest. I retired to North Texas in 1996, and then in 2007 built a new home in East Texas. I now live on a rural acre with my wife, two dogs, numerous wild critters and few neighbors.

My current interests include working on old Chrysler cars and writing fiction. I also like to work with wood, though I’m getting too old to do much of that anymore. My idea of ultimate relaxation is cruising in my ’64 Valiant convertible on a warm Texas night, with a cup of coffee in hand and listening to a CD of Golden Oldies. Mopar, Starbucks, and Roy Orbison. You can’t beat the combination.

My political bent is somewhat convoluted. First, I’m a flag-waving patriot of the first order and I love this country. I’m a strict, Constitutionalist/Conservative when it comes to taxes, government’s role in our lives, professional ethics, and personal responsibilities.

As far as social issues go, I’m more of a libertarian. I don’t care what you do in the privacy of your own home, but don’t make it my business by forcing your desires to become an issue for me to contemplate. Keep your cultural and personal anomalies to yourself and don’t demand my acceptance, or try to change my mind about what I believe. I really don’t give a damn about your sexual proclivity, the reason for your latest inferiority complex, or your need to smoke weed. It's none of my business, and let's keep it that way.

Unlike the stereotypical conservative, I’m not religious, but I’m not anti-religious either. I consider myself an agnostic in some ways, because no one has been able to prove the existence of God to me, nor has anyone been able to prove He doesn’t exist. However, I would probably better fit the definition of a Theist. I believe there is a higher power, but I can't believe that any one of the world's religions has all the right answers.

I find passionate people from all extremes of religion, or non-religion, are often a pain in the ass. I’ll quietly bow my head and respect your faith while you say a prayer, but don’t try to convert me. I respect your need and will staunchly defend your right to believe as you wish and to practice your faith without being hassled, but please return the favor and respect my opinion.

I mentioned that I like to write fiction, but I don’t consider myself a writer. That comes with time, learning, and dedication to the craft. At this point, I’m only clumsily putting on paper those stories that have been floating around in my head for ages.

I recently completed my first novel…In Dreams…a story about two older people trying to recapture the past. Someone said that your first novel is written from the heart and the rest from your brain. The first is written as you reflect on what you have lived and thought about in your own lifetime. All others depend on your understanding of what others think, and how they would face various situations.

I was probably the most shocked person on the planet when I received a contract offer from a small publisher for In Dreams. It was only the third place I had contacted, and the first to request a full manuscript. I honestly thought it would become a "trunk novel" destined to reside in my hard drive forever.

My second novel is in work and is tentatively titled A Murder in Church. As the title suggests, it’s a mystery that takes place in the small, fictional town of Church, Montana. No CSI…no car chases…no insane serial killers…no studly, rule-breaking detectives with a bevy of gorgeous girlfriends. I hope to write the story in the vein of the old, traditional mystery with believable characters and real life situations.

As I did in a previous blog on an automotive website, I will probably write about whatever interests me on a particular day. Some days it will be a journal entry, while others might be a full page political diatribe. I don’t intend to write something every day, and the frequency depends on my fervor at the moment.